Lu Hao
The Out-of-Joint World
2024.03.16 - 04.30
TRIUMPH GALLERY is pleased to announce The Out-of-Joint World, the artist Lu Hao’s first solo exhibition with the gallery, from March 16 to April 30, 2024. The exhibition, curated by Su Wei, features more than 30 pieces of the artist's work, including recently completed works on silk and important manuscript documentation from the early years.
This exhibition focuses on a series of new works by the artist on the theme of architecture. Lu Hao employs mediums such as Chinese ink and mineral pigment and technique akins to the mode of “Jiehua” (boundary-painting, a traditional mode of Chinese “Gongbi” painting) to delineate the contours of the exotic architectures in his works, but in a way that removes any traces of techniques. He remains invested in the detail of objects depicted and the amalgamation of various visual elements seen on them. The depiction of these details and elements, however, is not to fulfill any realist endeavors but to bestow the composition an ambiance that oscillates between illustration and “Lianhuanhua” (linked picture, a form of picture book popular in 1920s China), allowing the artist to come up with an expression that circumvents narratives and meanings.
Embedded within his paintings are emotions, sentiments, and inner voices of neighbors from afar. Continuing to polish his artistic language, Lu Hao and his works have never attempted to detach themselves from this ever-changing and anxious era. After experiencing the rise of globalism in the art world, he remains faithful to the flat yet multifaceted aesthetic of the past. With this emotion, he utilizes and continues to believe in his previous creative experience. At the same time, he seems to be tackling something that has often been overlooked—the truthful depictions of things that have been given different positions. For Lu Hao, the contemporary lies within the delineation of such things.
At a time of despair, artists tend to express themselves and their position through an “ugly and naïve” mode. Lu Hao’s approach is not to illustrate the difference between self-explanatory dichotomies such as beauty and ugliness, peace and violence. Instead, he decides to confront the world by observing it in silence.
This exhibition focuses on a series of new works by the artist on the theme of architecture. Lu Hao employs mediums such as Chinese ink and mineral pigment and technique akins to the mode of “Jiehua” (boundary-painting, a traditional mode of Chinese “Gongbi” painting) to delineate the contours of the exotic architectures in his works, but in a way that removes any traces of techniques. He remains invested in the detail of objects depicted and the amalgamation of various visual elements seen on them. The depiction of these details and elements, however, is not to fulfill any realist endeavors but to bestow the composition an ambiance that oscillates between illustration and “Lianhuanhua” (linked picture, a form of picture book popular in 1920s China), allowing the artist to come up with an expression that circumvents narratives and meanings.
Embedded within his paintings are emotions, sentiments, and inner voices of neighbors from afar. Continuing to polish his artistic language, Lu Hao and his works have never attempted to detach themselves from this ever-changing and anxious era. After experiencing the rise of globalism in the art world, he remains faithful to the flat yet multifaceted aesthetic of the past. With this emotion, he utilizes and continues to believe in his previous creative experience. At the same time, he seems to be tackling something that has often been overlooked—the truthful depictions of things that have been given different positions. For Lu Hao, the contemporary lies within the delineation of such things.
At a time of despair, artists tend to express themselves and their position through an “ugly and naïve” mode. Lu Hao’s approach is not to illustrate the difference between self-explanatory dichotomies such as beauty and ugliness, peace and violence. Instead, he decides to confront the world by observing it in silence.
Lu Hao
Lu Hao was born in Beijing in 1969, graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 1992. He served as the curator for the Chinese Pavilion at the 53rd Venice International Art Biennale and also became the exclusive designer for a limited edition Ferrari sports car in 2009, he held the position of foreign art consultant for the Paris City Government from 2009 to 2013. Currently lives and works in Beijing.
Lu Hao's artistic practice contains various mediums, including sculpture, photography, installation art, ink painting, and oil painting. His creations are rooted in Chinese forms and culture, exploring themes related to urban architecture, living environments, and lifestyles, while providing keen insights into the changing landscape of Chinese society. Since the 1990s, Lu Hao has participated in many international exhibitions, including the Documenta Kassel, Busan Biennale, São Paulo Biennial, Shanghai Biennale, Istanbul Biennial, Lyon Biennale, and Venice Biennale, etc., among other influential international exhibitions, and his works have been collected by renowned domestic and international art museums, art institutions and important collectors.
Lu Hao's artistic practice contains various mediums, including sculpture, photography, installation art, ink painting, and oil painting. His creations are rooted in Chinese forms and culture, exploring themes related to urban architecture, living environments, and lifestyles, while providing keen insights into the changing landscape of Chinese society. Since the 1990s, Lu Hao has participated in many international exhibitions, including the Documenta Kassel, Busan Biennale, São Paulo Biennial, Shanghai Biennale, Istanbul Biennial, Lyon Biennale, and Venice Biennale, etc., among other influential international exhibitions, and his works have been collected by renowned domestic and international art museums, art institutions and important collectors.
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Curator
Curator
Su Wei
Su Wei (born in Beijing) is an art writer, art historian and curator based in Beijing.
Su Wei's work in recent years focuses on re-constructing the narrative—and radical imagination—of contemporary Chinese art history, and explores the roots of the legitimacy and rupture of contemporary Chinese art history in a global context. Pivotal to his work is the attempt to take the “post-1949” as the key in understanding artistic production in a contemporary situation, and in so doing he seeks to re-define the stance and possibilities of art in nowadays China. He thus engages in an anti-establishment critical practice by mapping the limits, contextual clues and unconscious energies of the post-1949 art production, which figures the dual presence of decay and emptiness.
Su Wei's work in recent years focuses on re-constructing the narrative—and radical imagination—of contemporary Chinese art history, and explores the roots of the legitimacy and rupture of contemporary Chinese art history in a global context. Pivotal to his work is the attempt to take the “post-1949” as the key in understanding artistic production in a contemporary situation, and in so doing he seeks to re-define the stance and possibilities of art in nowadays China. He thus engages in an anti-establishment critical practice by mapping the limits, contextual clues and unconscious energies of the post-1949 art production, which figures the dual presence of decay and emptiness.